Blog

On Thursday 6 October Peter Hook, one of the founding members of Joy Division and New Order, talks about his new book Substance: Inside New Order, as part of the continuing Aye Write! Presents season.  To mark the event, we are running a fab competition. We have a pair of tickets for the talk, a copy of the book…

This weekend, KT Tunstall performs at Proms in the Park on Glasgow Green, backed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Tunstall has toured with Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra before, but this is the first time she has ever been backed by a classical orchestra.“It’s well posh, it just feels so fancy,” she says with her customary enthusiasm. That infectious enthusiasm has been tested over the past couple of years. Her return to pop music with new album KIN was by no means assured when Tunstall found herself exhausted by the death of her father, the end of her marriage and a disillusionment with the pop industry. But a life-changing move to California rejuvenated her mojo and ultimately set her back on the pop path. We met up with KT recently in Glasgow, when she returned to play the BBC Quay Sessions and found her ready and willing…

Earlier this year online ticketing brand WeGotTickets announced the launch of INDIE50, a new campaign celebrating the unsung heroes furthering live music at a grassroots level in the UK. The list of 50 selected individuals promised to salute the people who, away from the limelight, work tirelessly to cultivate the UK’s indie landscape, advancing regional scenes…

It’s a year since we embarked on our first walking tours, and we’d like to thank everyone who has helped make them possible including; The Britannia Panopticon, CCA, The Clutha & Victoria Bar, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, King Tut’s, Mono, Nice’N’Sleazy, The Scotia Bar and The Scottish Music Centre. Thanks to everyone who has guest-blogged for us, the musicians who agreed to be filmed for…

This Wednesday 10th August*, Lloyd Cole and Justin Currie, two titans of Glasgow pop return to their west end stomping ground to co-headline at Kelvingrove Bandstand. Although in Currie’s case, he never went away. Cole, on the other hand, has lived in the US since 1990. Their respective bands, Lloyd Cole & the Commotions and Del Amitri, emerged from the city around the same time at the turn of the 80s – a period Currie describes as “the gold rush” – and played together on many occasions over the years, so we sat the pair down together and got them reminiscing about Glasgow’s post-punk glory days, starting with their memories of the Bandstand back in the day. Lloyd: I remember walking by it but I don’t remember ever seeing anyone there. Justin: I’ve been there since it re-opened and I…

Glasgow Music City Tours is pleased to present Cover Stories, an illustrated discussion on the art of the record sleeve, as part of Merchant City Festival 2016. Our guest panel of writers, artists and musicians will be discussing the art of the  record sleeve. We would like to extend huge thanks to; Manda Rin, Niall Smillie, Nicola Meighan and Francis…

Glasgow is a great place for music. But don’t take our word for it – listen to what some of the city’s musicians have to say on the subject… Today we’re releasing the second in a series of (very) short films we’ve put together, featuring Glasgow musicians talking about making music and going to gigs in town. In the hotseat this time, we’re beyond delighted to have Frances McKee, one half of the continuing legend that is The Vaselines. Are you sitting comfortably…? Huge thanks once again to Sir Scott Paterson, director, interviewer and general man behind the camera for all of these films. We’ll be putting up another little video soon…watch this space! Meanwhile, you can check out our other clips here including the first film in this series, with Teenage Fanclub’s Francis Macdonald.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Glasgow Jazz Festival we’re running jazz tours (24, 25, 26 June) and we’ll be kicking off at 2pm with some live music and a refreshment at the brilliant Scottish Music Centre. Guests will have the opportunity to peruse some archive jazz material and listen to a short set by one of the musicians featured in 30 under 30 before we set off on a jaunt around Merchant City. We have lovely Oaked Highland Gin courtesy of Strathearn for inside and ponchos should they be required outside! On Friday 24 one of Scotland’s most exciting young artists, Fergus McCreadie will perform before we head out for a gentle stroll and some great stories. On Saturday 25 it’s the prodigiously talented Declan Forde. On Sunday 26 playing for us is the gifted, award-winning Alan Benzie. We’re excited and honoured to announce that Alan Benzie will be…

We’re very excited and honoured to announce that Declan Forde will perform on Saturday 25th. Declan Forde was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1992. In 2014, after completing his Bachelor studies at Leeds College of Music, he relocated to Berlin and has since established himself as one of the most in demand pianists on the…

Rachel Lightbody is a young vocalist based in Glasgow. Growing up in Chicago she was immersed in  American song — from Billie Holiday to James Taylor, the family home was always filled with music which sparked her early interest in performance. Rachel studied Applied Music at Strathclyde University  and graduated with first class honours, focusing on…

Brodie studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on Tommy Smith’s Scottish Jazz degree under the tutelage of Mario Caribe, Julian Arguelles and Tommy Smith. In a collaboration between the Edinburgh and Oslo Jazz Festivals in 2012, Brodie was one of  three young Scottish musicians who were invited to Oslo to play with three young Norwegian musicians….

Helena Kay started playing alto saxophone when she was 11 years old and was introduced to jazz when her first teacher gave her a Charlie Parker CD. It was when she joined the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra that her love of jazz grew, and she progressed to the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland when she was 16. A…